AOC Pay Raises Hurt Courts

Below is a copy of an opinion piece published by columnist Lois Henry. Her article reveals the depth of public concern over the failure of the Judicial Council and AOC to make open and accessible trial courts the highest priority of the judicial branch.

The article highlights the Alliance proposal to redirect funds from statewide programs that was first introduced during budget discussions in May. Addressing a proposal by the Judicial Council to allow for $150 million of borrowing by the trial courts, Alliance President Judge Steve White stated in his appearance before the legislative budget committee, “If there is $150 million within the budget for the trial courts to borrow, then there is $150 million at least to redistribute.”

Two documents will help you evaluate this proposal. One is our own summary of some budgeted funds that we think need reevaluation for possible redirection to trial court operations. The second is a report dated June 2013 that reviews AOC staffing.

AOC leadership claims to have eliminated some positions, but with the cuts to the courthouse construction program and the termination of the failed CCMS project, we would expect far more significant reductions. Even staffing reductions of 20% would barely begin the process of paring down the bloated AOC.

Our trial courts have lost 2500 employees and 80 courthouses have been closed. The entire state administrative operation needs to be reevaluated and all available funds must be promptly redirected to the trial courts.

I’m sure you will all be pleased to know that a bunch of state judicial bureaucrats just got a 3.5 percent raise while Kern County has closed down one of our outlying courts entirely, is preparing to shut another on all but a single day of the week, and continues to have to cut back hours that clerks can take filings or even talk to the public on the phone.

Yup, makes me feel all warm and fuzzy too.

California’s judicial branch has taken hit after financial hit from the state budget.

That’s a problem.

But even worse, the courts’ own administrator, aptly known as the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), seems hell bent on spending what little money the Legislature has carved out for local courts on, well, administrative claptrap.

It’s been a years-long problem that only recently received a withering eye from the Legislature as reports have uncovered unbelievable waste within the AOC.

In the world of government funding, the total is chump change really, only about $1 million.

But it’s the principle, said Kern County Superior Court Judge David Lampe, who also works as the executive director of the Alliance of California Judges.

The Alliance has struggled to shed light on how the AOC’s spending has affected the public’s right to access its court system.

“We’ve lost 2,500 jobs and had to close 80 courtrooms throughout the state,” Lampe said. “Yet the oversight staff in San Francisco gets a pay raise.

“It sends the wrong message.”

California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye authorized the pay raises July 3, less than a full week after the governor relented to give the judiciary an extra $63 million this fiscal year. That money was specifically to be spent keeping local courts open, according to an Aug. 23 article in The Recorder, a publication that focuses on legal happenings in California.

“It cannot be used for raises, it cannot be used for construction or infrastructure projects,” Assemblyman Reginald Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, was quoted by The Recorder as having said in June. “It can only be used to keep the courts open and provide access to justice.”

The Judicial Council, which oversees the AOC, has defended the raises as not really raises at all. They are “step increases,” for employees advancing from one level to another.

Besides, the money doesn’t come out of the same pot as trial court funding, the Council said.
I hate it when government agencies try and tell us a duck isn’t a duck.

More jingle in your paycheck is a raise, plain and simple. And these raises were discretionary, by the way, not required by any contract.

That the Judicial Council used its discretion to fatten the wallets of bureaucrats rather than put that money toward providing as much public access to the courts as possible is telling, not to mention disturbing.

Kern County has fared better than its sister counties in finding ways to tighten the belt without too much public impact, until now.

The Kern court system, which operates several courts in outlying cities, has had its budget whacked by $9.7 million, or 27 percent of its base funding, since 2008, according to Kern’s court administrator Terry McNally.

Costs were cut through a number of voluntary early retirement programs, hour reductions and by simply not filling open positions, McNally said.

But the cuts went deeper this year.

As of June 10, the Lake Isabella court was closed (see sidebox for more info). And starting Sept. 9, the Taft court will only be open on Thursdays to hear local traffic infractions, small claims and some civil cases.

All of this means it’s going to take longer for cases to be heard, it’s going to be harder to file cases and more difficult to just get basic information.

McNally did say he’s hoping to use Kern’s share of the extra $63 million from the Legislature this year to increase services.

But don’t get too excited.

“Unfortunately this funding falls well short of the cumulative cuts that have piled up over the last five years so the impact will be very modest,” he said.

Meanwhile, the AOC has 68 people in its “center for judiciary education,” Judge Lampe said.
“The judges teach those classes for free,” he said. “What are those 68 people doing?”

He also noted the District Attorney’s association, with 4,000 members, has two people administering its continuing education program.

The AOC also still has 156 people in its information technology office.

It still has that many people, Lampe said, even after the bungled and hugely expensive computer case management system was killed. (This computer system, which was supposed to link courts up and down the state to share case information, cost taxpayers $500 million before it was deemed a failure in 2012.)

“What are those 156 people doing?” Lampe wanted to know.

And while the AOC has reduced staff since the 2011-2012 fiscal year, its budget has increased by $30 million.

Why?

“No one ever goes back and reevaluates programs,” Lampe said. “It’s ‘once funded, always funded.'”
The Alliance of California Judges has estimated there is as much as $150 million languishing in failed or unnecessary AOC programs that could instead be used by trial courts, Lampe said.
The Alliance is seeking an audit of the AOC.

Now, that’s the first reasonable thing I’ve heard in connection with this agency.

After 40+ years of public service, I’m ready to hang it up. Things have gotten so polarized now that it is almost impossible to carry on a “discussion” about important issues. Time was, issues were debated, oftentimes when people listened they would moderate their positions and work collaboratively to pass important legislation or enact policies that bettered the public as a whole. Now, those in “power” refuse to listen to anyone expressing either concerns or an alternative view. Anyone wishing to engage in constructive dialogues are branded “heretics” and dismissed, perhaps even with naming such as, “this will be viewed as an act of war” or they are simply “ants on the trail”. (with all due respect to WearyAnt…)

There was a time when people ascended to positions of importance based upon their abilities and experience. Now it seems that people are “promoted” based upon other criteria, including their expressed willingness to kiss the signet ring and promise to blindly follow the path laid out by some self-described guru or expert who was then in power. I have never seen as many so-called “experts” as I have seen since the late 1990’s, most of whom don’t know their a– from a hole in the ground when it comes to the subject of their so-called expertise.

For years I have hoped that the members of the Legislature, Governor and members of the general public would read the content of this outstanding website and do something to tame the beast living within the Crystal Palace. Positive and constructive ideas and alternatives have been repeatedly presented to the current and former Chief Justice and their assigns since their statewide takeover. Without exception, any such proposals have been ignored or dismissed. No effort has been made to democratize the Judicial Council, so we are left with minions blindly following HRH-1 and HRH-2.

Over half a Billion Dollars of the public’s money, let alone their trust, has been flushed down the toilet by “experts” insistence on pursuing computer systems that a high school student could tell you would not work. Despite the apparent economic recovery occurring in California, the trial courts are in far worse shape than they were during the depth of the Great Depression. Unbelievably, insiders are still receiving fully-funded or otherwise extravagant retirement packages at 455 Golden Gate Avenue. Despite the law requiring that public employees pay for at least half their retirement premiums if hired after 1-1-2013. Finally, while we are laying-off staff, closing courthouses and eliminating services to the public, HRH-2 “approves” 3.5% raises to people working within the Crystal Palace, Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. HRH-2 makes the same claims, from the same playbook used by HRH-1. “Oh, these are simply step-increases, not raises”. Well, why is it then that most all counties have frozen promotions or elevation to higher steps within the ranks? That is because they have no money to fund these increases, unless they were to fire more employees.

It’s time for the next generation to continue this fight. Maybe I’m just a dinosaur and my outlook on public service doesn’t applicable in 2013. I certainly hope that is not the case, but we’ll see.

Like you, I retired after 40 years of public service, many of which were with the courts, and I share you concerns completely.

I find it appalling what passes for leadership these days — most of our so-called leaders are self-serving, self-centered mediocrities whose main goal is to perpetuate their personal power by hiring more mediocrities in their image, creating a self-reinforcing downward spiral of lowered achievement and service, at ever higher levels of cost to the public treasury. It seems that if your motivations are to genuinely improve the system through concrete accomplishments and demonstrated expertise, no one is interested. If not “connected”, you’re out. Being “part of the system” is prized above all other experience and qualifications, which, of course, serves to further and hasten the downward path towards inefficiency and ineffectiveness that organizational in-breeding always creates.

I am not yet willing to throw in the towel, however. Things are getting so bad, with daily revelations of corruption and self-dealing, that I think change will soon be demanded by the taxpaying public, sick of paying more and more and getting less and less.

I believe it is up to us who have served the great public leaders and officials of the past to keep the torch burning. We need to be ready when the call comes to show there is a way out of the current mess. You are correct that it will be up to the next generation to carry on the fight, but we still have a role to play. We hold the “old knowledge”, which will be needed in the battle to come.

N. Woodull don’t give up the good fight. I too have retired from many years of public service, all in the court system and I am not ready let these tyrants, sociopaths, dicktators (sp. intentional) etc. win. This blog and the ACJ is leading the fight and has made great strides for the cause of transparency and accountability in the branch. I still believe in truth, justice, and the american way. I still believe in the force and that the death star will not rule forever.

With the type of stuff outlined in the above article, shit the CJ is hanging herself.

Great post General! Sadly many of the next generation of critics have been laid off or those who remain have learned to by yes men too in order to get ahead. Those 2,500 employees let go already from the courts were not all cut based on being low on the totem pole. The AOC sees all change as an opportunity. So when cuts came that was just a chance to get rid of enemies. The un-represented staff of my trial court, many of whom had up to 25 years of experience, were let go based on pure politcs of who the Admin liked. No performance evaluations, no years of service, and no education standards were considered. As a result, those who remain are all the more aware that to speak out or get ahead of management is professional death. A terrible culture of repression of ideas exists within CA Courts and Woodhull is right to lament this loss of discussion or loss of civility. It would be nice ot work in an organization where leaders can be challenged like England’s parlament just did with Prime Minister Cameron in their genuine debate over Syria. That was a real debate. Frankly I didn’t like their vote, (gotta stand up to bullies who use chemical weapons on human beings) but I do respect that democratic process 100%. It was a fair vote and just proces where both sides were heard.

Compare that to the JC on California. How can critics from within have a discussion if they are not at the table to present counter views? This blog, the rise of the ACJ, and the ongong public scandals are all proof that the Chief is not interested in hearing discussion of outside ideas. She apparently only wants her insiders controling all branch policy and the ACJ gets 5 minutes in the public comment section of the meeting as if their ideas are not nearly as worthy of discussion as that of JC members.

What few people in the public get is that the JC chamber is a stacked deck and everyone in it was appointed there by the Chief or is on the AOC payroll. This is the scam they are pretending is a public hearing on policy issues. Don’t believe me? Look at the votes by the JC members. They are almost all 100% unanimous on everything.

The result of these fake public policy debates are some really bad decisions (like CCMS, LB Courthouse, the telecomuting from Switzerland, and now these AOC raises). There is an unwillingness by those in control to admit any mistakes in the past and that is simply an impossibly arrogant attitude.

What remains of the “leaders” in the branch are mostly yes men who are just collecting a fat paycheck. For anyone who likes to express their ideas openly there are better places to work. I again call out all PJ’s for not speaking out publicly for structural reform of the JC. You have a duty to try and fix the branch and it is time to speak out just as Lois Henry did above at yet another bad choice. Your salaries are safe and your jobs are too. Just gotta get in the habit of pushing for the branch CA deserves not the one we have. The JC needs to be democratized. It is long overdue.

This is not the time for the next generation to continue this fight. This is a fight for this generation which will be passed on to the next generation should that be necessary.

In 1940 Germany was at pressing Great Britain to the brink. In May of that year Winston Churchill did not lose the faith. He declared that the goal, even in the face of numerous military disasters, was that the objective was “victory, however long and hard the road may be.”

We who are in this battle with the combined forces of the Chief Justice, the Judicial Council and the Administrative Office of the Courts are not in the situation great Britain found itself in when this speech was made. Rather, we are in the position of Great Britain on November 10, 1942 when, after the first real victory in the War at El Alamein, Churchill said that, ” Now this is not the end. It is not the even the beginning of the end but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

Please keep in mind what has been accomplished:

The Governor and the Legislature have ordered the Branch not to waste any more money on CCMS. This was a major victory and although the leaders of the branch insist that we have a Ferrari in the garage the truth is that the both the Legislature and the Governor that the Ferrari is really a broken down Yugo with no engine. Our leaders then tried to pass off a scheme by which V-4 would be renamed V-3 and this failed.

This latest pay raise for AOC bureaucrats ordered by the Chief Justice is no victory in the long term from what I am reading. The Long Beach Courthouse will be a festering sore for decades.

When in the history of our branch has the Legislature told us how to spend our money as they recently did with the 60 million that we received this year? When has the Legislature considered giving us 100 million and then reduced this to 60 million after our leadership made appeals to them for more money?

When in the history of our branch have members of the Legislature demanded that our Chief Justice fire an employee?

Please ask yourselves when have you read an article in the media, or heard a program on TV that mentioned our branch in a favorable light? When has the Governor said that we are doing a great job? When was the last time you heard any member of the Legislature say that we were doing a great job and needed more money? Note that I said that we are doing a great job and need more money. They know we need more money but they do not think we are doing a great job. They believe we waste taxpayer money.

This is the end of the beginning. We may never have victory which I define as an accountable, transparent and respected leadership that is not arrogant and which has at least a concern for democracy. Let us not be of faint heart. We have them on the run but the battle is far, far from over.

Incredible powerful comments by all of the above. I find it fascinating that many of those that contribute excellent ideas here have been around along time. These same people all know how things ran before HRH-1 and HRH-2 created their anti-democtratic imperial dynasty. The biggest myth that HRH-1 and his minions persist in telling today is that they had to rescue the California court system. Well they rescued it all right. Billions wasted, courthouses closed, valuable long time trial court employees terminated, cases backing up etc etc. HRH-2 by passing out raises to her minions ignored the clear mandate of the legislature which I find stunning. The answer is simple. The legislature needs to gut the Judicial Council and AOC budget. They need to simply allocate funds to the trial courts. That would end the tyranny and disgrace that has marginalized a once proud and strong California court system.

As we enter the Labor Day weekend we need to recognize all the great employees of the trial courts that work every day under increasingly difficult circumstances.These outstanding people do the same work that 25-50% more employees handled before massive budget cutbacks. I also remain very saddened by the loss of many loyal trial court staff who did their best to serve the public. Unionman I also want to thank you this Labor Day for all your contributions here. I plan to have a vodka tonic in your honor Monday night. Keep up the good fight everyone. Like all anti-democratic arrogant forms of government, change will eventually come to 455 Golden Gate.

More than 2,500 dedicated public servants have lost their jobs. 80 courthouses have shut their doors to the public statewide. All of this was foreseeable and as predictable as the sun rising in the eastern sky towards the end of King George’s reign.

For nearly three years we’ve carefully documented on the pages of this site and host over 150 megabytes of downloadable documentation available to anyone that cares to follow the links provided. Collectively, it all points to government run amok usurping the provenance of its separate but equal partners.

It’s supposed to be the legislature that determines what public buildings will be built through legislation and funding. These buildings are supposed to be maintained and constructed by an executive branch agency. The judiciary should simply be a tenant of an executive branch maintained public building. If they want a software program, they buy it. They don’t develop it.

These things represent an accurate portrayal of the roles of government as represented by the other 49 states and the federal government.

Judges have for years and still do provide judicial education, yet the judicial council and the aoc have used this education department to assemble a juggernaut of savvy media and communications to shape their message and deliver it to the unsuspecting. We’ve often referred to CJER a part of the Ministry of Truthiness & Public Enlightenment along with their communications, governmental affairs and public information departments.

Many years ago our legislature chose to abdicate its responsibility and create an uncontrolled behemoth that was accountable to no one. That behemoth in turn was controlled by a few crooked insiders that enjoy a game of musical “leadership” chairs. They in turn were all appointed and keep on getting re-appointed by a pretty face but otherwise hollow shell of an anointed chief justice whose major accomplishment has been to be the story of a little minority farm girl that quickly rose to one of the most powerful positions in state government.

While being a heartwarming story of american opportunity as much as garlic is palette satisfying, much like garlic, one only needs to peel back the layers to smell the stench and wonder why the other two branches continue to punish the courts for the behavior of the accountable to no one monster that they themselves created.

It’s our desire to see that not one more courthouse closes and not one more dedicated public servant on the front line loses their job so that some hollow shell can buy the silence of her soldiers by overpaying them.

We feel that the most powerful voices in this argument on the future of the branch are not necessarily those currently employed by the branch but those who have retired or have lost their jobs. Judges who have retired can frankly say things that sitting judges can’t say to a legislator. Unfortunately, it’s obvious that what must be done to reign in those that are out of control is to encourage our legislature to realign the branch and re-delegate based not on judicial council prerogatives and priorities but legislative priorities that serve the public best.

Educating children is not likely to come up on the short list.

In celebration of the american worker, we’d like to dedicate this weekend to all current and former judges and court workers statewide who advocate change. We’ve won some battles. It’s time to win the war.

Oh, BRAVO, JCW! Truer words could not be spoken. I started out writing a much longer reply but abbreviated it to the first two sentences. I am tired of what feels like wasting my breath and pounding my head against a wall. But I thank everyone here because you continue to keep the faith and give me hope that major change is still possible. Because my faith is fading and almost gone 😦

“It’s our desire to see that not one more courthouse closes and not one more dedicated public servant on the front line loses their job so that some hollow shell can buy the silence of her soldiers by overpaying them.”

“We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and the oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” — Quote by Winston Churchill

Never give in — never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.
— Quote by Winston Churchill

Pursuant to Government Code Section 68106, the Superior Court of California, County of Tulare, is providing sixty days notice of the Court’s decision to reduce telephone service in the Clerk’s Offices. This reduction is necessary due to the unprecedented and ongoing State budget cuts.

Currently, the Clerk’s Office telephone access is available to the public from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., excluding court holidays and weekends. Effective November 1, 2013, the Tulare County Superior Court’s new telephone hours in the Clerk’s Offices will be as follows:

MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY:

8:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M.

Any interested person or entity who wishes to comment may do so, in writing, by either of the following methods:

In county after county, staff lose their jobs and go on the unemployment lines. Unable to pay their mortgages, they lose their homes and what little family security they had. Surviving staff suffer pay cuts, but have to work even harder than before because the same amount of work comes in the front door. Services to the public are cut. Courthouses are closed. Justice is delayed and therefore denied.

“Sympathetic lawmakers and the governor, lobbied heavily by judges, lawyers and local nonprofit advocates, allocated the extra $63 million to the judicial branch. The money came with a caveat, however, as the chairman of the committee overseeing the judiciary’s budget explained.

“It cannot be used for raises, it cannot be used for construction or infrastructure projects,” Assemblyman Reginald Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, said in June. “It can only be used to keep the courts open and provide access to justice.”

At the same time that the State Legislature told judicial branch administration that this money “cannot be used for raises,” wasn’t branch administration also told that they were “on probation”?

As branch administration has now seen fit to flip a middle finger at the State Legislature, and commit some of this money for AOC raises, whole trial courts continue to close their doors and further limit public services, wouldn’t that also mean that branch administration has violated their probation? And if so, is anyone in Sacramento going to hold branch administration accountable for that?

Thanks Wendy for asking the most important question that needs to be raised. When is the legislature going to hold the arrogant managers of the crystal palace accountable ? I heard the same story again this weekend. A retired public servant went to the wrong courthouse and when seeing that traffic court was entirely closed went to a second location only to learn by then the clerks office was closed. This person then went back a third time and waited in a line and was redirected to yet another line waiting over an hour. This is what the arrogant overlords at 455 Golden Gate have done to just one part of the trial courts. So while good people get the run around and have to wait hours in line, HRH-2 is handing out pay raises to her insider minions in contravention to what the legislature mandated. The legislature needs to act. The best solution is easy and fair. Defund the Judicial Council and AOC and allocate funds directly to the trial courts.

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The Judicial Council of California, Administrative Office of the Courts seeks a Commercial-Off-The-Shelf E-Learning (web-based learning, computer-based learning and, virtual education opportunities) system for use by approximately 750 employees. The system must allow desktop access for each user in a web-based mode. The AOC uses online learning to deliver compliance, safety, and professional and personal development content to its employees. The purpose of this Request for Proposals (RFP) is to solicit and award a contract. This RFP is the means for prospective contractors/vendors to submit their qualifications and request selection as the contractor/vendor.

Questions regarding this RFP should be directed to Solicitations@jud.ca.gov by September 18, 2013 no later than 1:00 P.M. Pacific Time.
Proposals must be received by October 23, 2013 no later than 1:00 P.M. Pacific Time.

Not only will it not help fix what is wrong, without concurrent meaningful reform of the JC/AOC, it only will serve to perpetuate the current situation, which as detailed in both specifics and generalities on this site, is completely unacceptable.

As has been shown, even if the legislature puts restrictions on the use of new money, the current leadership willfully ignores such restrictions and uses the new money as it pleases. Exhibit I is the current controversy where new money, even with restrictions, was used to fund raises for already overpaid and under-worked, dare I say useless, central office bureaucrats who contribute nothing to the administration of justice.

The Administrative Office of the Courts, Office of Real Estate and Facilities Management seeks to identify and select experienced Contractors for the provision of Construction Services in three Job Order Contracting Zones located in the State of California. The modality of the contracting method will be via the Job Order Contracting concept. Job Order Contracting is a proven procurement technique that enables facility owners to accomplish a large number of small to medium-sized projects via individual contracts based on Proposals that are competitively evaluated and awarded. JOC Contracting utilizes a set of customized, pre-priced construction tasks as its basis for describing the work and setting pricing.

Taxpayer money to finance the AOC’s racket of building courthouses and lining pockets, while true access to justice — fully staffed, open courthouses, regular business hours at clerks’ windows, etc. — is allowed to wither and die on the vine. The construction trade is obviously far more important than the justice system. It’s all about priorities.

No offense to Unionman, whom I have nothing but respect for…But with the democrats in the super majority and with all of the influences the labor unions tell us they have, how is this being allowed to continue to take place and where are the labor unions in this fight? It seems to me that they should be knocking down doors demanding answers – Why was this money spent on pay raises when it was specifically stated it would not be?

It is a silent battle of the construction unions vs. the court unions. Nobody begrudges their sister unions but the building and construction trades council – consisting of those who build courthouses – is a powerful force in Sacramento and wants the courthouses built. Another less discussed element is that as a legislator, you never want to be seen turning away public building construction – and the jobs that come with them – in your district.

After Lowenthal came out and demanded the termination of Vickrey, the Long Beach courthouse in her district was bumped to next on the list and ramrodded through the AOC. These people are not stupid and know exactly what they’re doing. They, in effect, silenced Lowenthal by building a way overpriced courthouse in her district and politically hogtied her.

“Another less discussed element is that, as a legislator, you never want to be seen turning away public building construction – and the jobs that come with them – in your district.”

What about concern by the building trades (sister union) and the legislators for the jobs that were LOST by court employees in exchange for the jobs that come WITH new courthouse construction? It seems to me that our sister unions should not be 100 percent willing to throw trial court employees under the bus in favor of themselves. Oh, wait, I remember now. We at the worker level are being turned against each other in this dog-eat-dog world, while the fat cats pulling the strings and lining their own pockets laugh about it over lobster and martinis.

Lets see if Lowenthal re-charts the course she was on with getting on about the AOCs trail of waste and dismantling of the trial courts now that the courthouse in her district opens up next week. With the building and construction trade council the silent fight (meaning: there really is no fight but lots of animosity) isn’t just against unions. It is also against hundreds of contractors and other public officials that are well organized.

Arthur Gilbert v. Controller of the State of California, Los Angeles Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles BC487949. Why should judges and justices violate California Constitution Article VI Section 17 and be able to accept public employment and office during the term of office. Most are already getting retirement as employees of the County (which violates the constitution). Enough.

Thank you, JCW, for that explanation, That makes sense to me. Politics, all the way around, one way or another, is screwing the rest of the hard-working court employees.
We need to, perhaps, rise up ourselves so that someone starts to take notice.

Speaking of serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians . . . 455 Golden Gate Avenue gets yet another free pass on breaking the law. Published today, Friday, September 6, from Courthouse News Service, by Maria Dinzeo:

Judge Sees no Issue With Finagled Calif. Pension
By MARIA DINZEO

(CN) – A court-appointed receiver for California prisons did nothing wrong when he took a job with a state agency to qualify for a pension, a federal judge ruled.

J. Clark Kelso, formerly the chief information officer for the California Department of Technology, had been appointed to oversee California’s prison medical program in 2008.

In a 2011 federal complaint brought on behalf of taxpayers, former state employee Daniel Francis claimed that Kelso then used the Administrative Office of the Courts to wash his salary.

He said that, two months after the appointment to receiver, Kelso took a job as a “special consultant” with the AOC, then loaned himself out to the prison system for the receiver job so that he could enroll in the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS).

In this position, Kelso allegedly enjoyed the perks of being one of the highest paid CalPERS recipients and lifetime health benefits.

After Francis filed supplemental points about his case against CalPERS with the court, a San Diego judge chimed in with an email Kelso sent him years earlier.

Judge Runston Maino had written Kelso to satisfy his stated interest, “both as a judge and as a member of the public who pays taxes, [in] where my money is being spent.”

Kelso replied that his compensation would “have no impact on the Judicial Branch’s budget.”

“My placement within the judicial branch of government and the AOC for payroll purposes only was intended to provide me with the necessary independence from the governor’s powers so that my independence as receiver would not be compromised,” the receiver added. “Given that the governor and I have ended up in litigation against each other and that the governor has imposed an Executive Branch-wide furlough program, the decision to put me in another branch of government was a prudent one.”

Judge Michael Kenny tentatively ruled that Kelso is a legitimate state employee eligible for CalPERS membership.

“Petitioner has failed to demonstrate that respondent’s determination was invalid,” Kenny wrote. “Petitioner accordingly has failed to demonstrate that respondent’s determination was a violation of its constitutional duties regarding administration of the state retirement system.”

Francis had also failed to prove that the AOC did anything illegal by employing Kelso, and that his pension is not a gift of public funds, since the state receives the benefit of Kelso’s services as receiver, the ruling states.

Francis’ attorney Michael White did not respond to a request for comment.

“Two months after the appointment to receiver, Kelso took a job as a ‘special consultant’ with the AOC…”. Interesting, why (1) no one moved to disqualify the receiver in 2008, (2) why the issue of the receiver’s compensation was not determined at the point of appointment (and to exclude state funding), (3) why anyone would agree that a federal receiver could be a state employee? The prison population really is not in a position to address the issue. On the other hand as for the judges who are county employees and are part of the county retirement plan, the voters did not agree to this. No one “loaned” judges for county employment.

You know, sometimes life really does imitate life!
Watch this clip very carefully. How many different references with direct application to the AOC can you spot? From the use of acronyms, to the “special treatment”, to things getting down outside regular channels.
Which, if any AOC character (past or present) do you think is the Company Commander?
Who are the other characters?

Very good, General! I must now re-look at the entire movie for a large laugh! Thank you. The only criticism I have for the analogy, the JC/AOC/CJ, theys bees terribly secretive and clandestine than the characters here …

Ahhhh, more civics lessons for the urchins, more oblique — or bold references to a child of immigrants wronged by the system and growing up to attain the most powerful — and unanswerable — position in California and perhaps the nation.

You should have a barf bag — or U-man bucket –nearby when checking this out. Otherwise, this article is short on stuff and long on stuff …